Among the Stars |
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| Directed by Bruce Akpan Hostetler | ||
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Joel Cobbs and Kurt Crowley |
Aaron Kirk Douglas |
Joel Cobbs |
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Benjamin Ball Travis Bilenski |
Jeremy Buxton Tate Ivy |
Sara Wright |
| Music Director: Barney Stein | ||
Follow Us:
A Note on the Journey
Some shows begin with a grand vision. This one began with a newspaper article and a Craigslist post.
In 2003, Aaron Kirk Douglas came across a piece in New Connexion magazine about UFO believers gathering near Mt. Adams in Washington — ordinary people, educated people, people with jobs and families, who had nonetheless organized their lives around the conviction that extraterrestrial contact was not only real but imminent. Aaron wasn't a believer. But he was a writer, and something in the article stopped him cold. Not the UFOs. The people. The need underneath the belief. The community they had built at the edges of what the rest of the world would accept.
He couldn't shake it.
So he did what any reasonable person would do: he posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a composer.
The man who responded was Kurt Crowley, a Harvard-educated musician who had studied Music and Comparative Religion — which, in retrospect, made him almost cosmically qualified to score a show about alien salvation believers. The two began building Planet Eden from the ground up: a musical about faith, absurdity, and what people will do to feel like they belong somewhere.
The first staged readings took place in May and June of 2010 at CoHo Theatre, directed by Bruce Akpan Hostetler, whose life adventures have brought him full circle to the project today. In January 2011, the show moved to Broadway Rose Musical Theatre Company in Tigard as part of the Fertile Ground Festival of New Works — two nights, a live audience, and the first real proof that something genuine was alive in this material. A second workshop followed in April 2013 at Vanport Square Studio, supported by a $6,000 grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, with the show briefly traveling under the title Spaced Out! and featuring a new book by Marc Acito (Allegiance) and Sam Hull.
Then life intervened, as it tends to. By the time of the third reading, Kurt had found work on Broadway with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hamilton, and the show went quiet for nearly a decade.
In 2025, Kurt graciously allowed Aaron to continue working on the show using what they had created so far. Then what brought it back to life was a collaboration with playwright Joel Cobbs, whose work has been recognized by the Stanley Drama Award. Joel undertook a substantial reimagining of the book — not a departure from the original, but a deepening of it. The show that emerged was gentler, stranger, and more honest than any earlier draft. Less interested in the joke of it. More interested in the ache.
The working title became Among the Stars. And on August 23, 2026, at the Bridgetown Conservatory of Musical Theatre, the show takes the stage again in its fourth workshop — this time with Kurt Crowley's music supplemented by new compositions from Joel Cobbs, music direction by Barney Stein, and the full weight of sixteen years of living with these characters.
Aaron has said that he didn't return to this musical to update it. Joel has helped him finally understand what it was trying to say.
Credits
Bridgetown Conservatory of Musical Theatre presents a staged reading of
AMONG THE STARS
Libretto (Book): Joel Cobbs
Music: Joel Cobbs and Kurt Crowley
Lyrics: Joel Cobbs, Aaron Kirk Douglas, and Kurt Crowley
Based on an original concept by Aaron Kirk Douglas and Kurt Crowley
Music Direction by Barney Stein
Directed by Bruce Akpan Hostetler
August 23, 2026
Bridgetown Conservatory of Musical Theatre
Portland, Oregon
A Note from Aaron and Joel
Every few years, somewhere, a group of people picks a date for the end of the world. The historical record on these predictions is unblemished: zero for several thousand. What the record doesn't capture is everything else those groups did as the date approached — the schedules they kept, the meals they cooked, the arguments over who was allowed to do what. The prophecies always failed. The thing they built while waiting for it usually didn't.
This show was originally set in 2012 at the end of the Mayan calendar, and we have deliberately kept it there. It's a period piece about the last moment before belief itself became the American battleground — when a handful of people waiting for aliens in the desert was still a curiosity. You could watch them with both a raised eyebrow and a hint of tenderness. That distance is gone today, which is exactly why our story needs it: it's the only vantage point from which we can look at true believers with curiosity instead of contempt.
Nobody in this show is crazy, and nobody plays them that way. Everyone at the compound arrived carrying something, and they found someone else carrying something too.
— Aaron Kirk Douglas & Joel Cobbs
Cast List
CAST
(in order of appearance)
Harvey — Travis Bilenski
Lucy — Kelsea Ashenbrenner
Charlie — Tate Ivy
Cricket — Sara Wright
Reese — Zeb Bodine
Leon — Jeremy Buxton
The Captain — Benjamin Ball
Bonnie — Kat Voboril
Music Direction by Barney Stein
Directed by Bruce Akpan Hostetler
MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT I
"Among the Stars"
Harvey, Lucy, Charlie, Cricket, Reese, Leon
"I'm Gonna Get a Gold Statue"
Harvey, Lucy
"Ambassador to the Stars"
Bonnie, The Captain
"They Need a Place to Land"
The Captain
"Routines of the Day"
Leon, Cricket, Reese
"Walgreens"
Cricket
"Yours for the Taking Now"
Reese
"Charlie's Soliloquy"
Charlie
"Don't Know That I Believe"
Bonnie
"Among the Stars" (Reprise)
Ensemble
ACT II
"Routines of the Day" (Reprise)
Leon, Reese, Cricket, Bonnie, Harvey, Lucy, Charlie
"Better Than This"
Bonnie, Leon, Reese, Cricket, Harvey, Lucy
"Unsinkable"
The Captain, Bonnie
"Bright New Dawn"
Ensemble
Creative Team
Aaron Kirk Douglas
Joel Cobbs
Kurt Crowley
Barney Stein
Meet the Company
Kat Voboril
Kat Voboril is thrilled to help bring Among the Stars to life as Bonnie. Her favorite musical theatre credits include Eva Perón in Evita, Patsy in Crazy for You, Kate Mullins in Titanic, and Rapunzel in Into the Woods. She also performed with the Liberty Belles, a three-woman show inspired by the Andrews Sisters and part of the USO World Troupe, at major national events in Washington, D.C., and San Diego. Kat earned her degree in Vocal and Theatrical Performance from Northwestern University and continues to perform in concerts, sacred music, and lifecycle events throughout the Portland area. She lives in Lake Oswego with her husband and two children. Learn more at katvoborilvocals.com.
Kelsea Vierra Ashenbrenner
Kelsea Vierra Ashenbrenner (she/her) is a Portland, Oregon-based performer and producer making her Bridgetown debut. She holds a degree in Theatre from Oregon State University and is an alumna of Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (PETE)'s Institute for Contemporary Performance and Shakespeare & Companys Center for Actor Training. Recent credits include Melancholy Play (Gather Repertory Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing and A Gentlemans Guide to Love and Murder (Penguin Productions), California (The Theatre Company), Fork Tender (Stage Fright Festival), Downward Facing (Fuse Theatre Ensemble’s Atelier Festival), and Fezziwigs Fortune (Anonymous Theatre Company).
Tate Ivy
Tate Ivy (Charlie) lives in a liminal space between the stage and behind-the-scenes as a creator of all things theatre. After earning a degree at WWU in Bellingham, WA and co-founding the Gaysian Theatre Festival, Tate has moved back to Portland with a mission to bring Asian American and trans representation to the stage as much as he can. Some of their recent roles include Emcee in Cabaret at the Bellingham Theatre Guild, Rocco in Buford's Bungalow at the Idiom Theatre and Laurel in Spark Plug Theatre's workshop of the new play, In Memory Of by Alyssa Cokinis. Tate is thankful to be able to participate in the development of new works and loves the Portland theatre scene for its ability to harbor up and coming theatre artists.
Jeremy Buxton
Jeremy Buxton is an actor in the Portland area and is excited to be working on this new project. He has recently been seen on stage in Bright Star as Daddy Cane (HART), G.I. Holiday Jukebox as Jeremy (Bridgetown Conservatory), and in Fly By Night as Crabble (Tapestry Theater). He would like to extend his appreciation to his family and friends who support his adventures and to all those who attend and support live theater.
Aaron Kirk Douglas
Aaron Kirk Douglas is a Portland-based lyricist and storyteller whose work spans musical theatre, narrative and documentary film, and memoir. He co-created the original concept on which Among the Stars is based. Douglas serves as vice president of the board of directors of Broadway Rose Theatre Company and is a former board secretary of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Beyond the stage, Douglas co-produced the documentary Monster Camp (Best Documentary, Cinequest, 2007) and is the author of Growing Up Twice: Shaping a Future by Reliving My Past (2016). A 1983 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism, he brings a reporter-style curiosity and instinct for narrative to everything he creates.reporter-style curiosity and a narrative instinct.
Joel Cobbs
Joel Cobbs is a Georgia-based playwright, novelist, and composer-lyricist whose work spans theatre and fiction. A member of the Dramatists Guild, he wrote the book and co-wrote the music and lyrics for Among the Stars. His original stage works include Dinner with Family, a semifinalist for the 2026 Stanley Drama Award. He is also the author of The Lights Went Out in Dixie, a novel inspired by the 2011 Alabama tornado outbreak. His writing combines humor, emotional honesty, and a deep appreciation for stories of human connection.
Kurt Crowley
Kurt Crowley is a New York-based music director, composer, and orchestrator whose Broadway credits include Hamilton, Freestyle Love Supreme, and Bring It On: The Musical. He is the music supervisor and co-orchestrator of Warriors, the new musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis, opening on Broadway in spring 2027. On screen, he served as executive music producer of tick, tick... BOOM! (Netflix) and vocal supervisor on In the Heights (Warner Bros.). His work spans the Vail Dance Festival, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the European premiere tour of Carmen la Cubana. He co-created the original concept on which Among the Stars is based. A graduate of Harvard University, he is a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School.
Barney Stein
Music Director at the Broadway Rose: Always...Patsy Cline (4 times, PAMTA nomination 2018), Audition from Hell, Andrews Sisters Christmas of Swing, Pump Boys and Dinettes (MD and cast), Anything Goes. MD at Stumptown Stages: Urinetown, It’s a Wonderful Life, Tootsie, Oliver. On stage (Broadway Rose): Triangle, Murder for Two, Melody Lingers On, Chicago, 42nd Street. On Stage (NY, LA): JC Superstar, Hair, Candide. Masters in dance from Stanford University.